Locals wore fancy dress for a mass fishing competition in a pond in Thailand.

Cheerful villagers, dancers, and comedians dressed up to attend the Asian Sea Bass fish catching competition in Samut Prakan province on November 6.

Anglers waded through the pond to catch the heaviest fish among the loud cheers around the pond.

Contestant number nine won the competition after catching nearly 20 fish weighing 23.4 kilograms. The first-runner up was only 200 grams short of the first-prize winner.

Participants had to pay an application fee of 500 THB (14 USD) to take part in the competition. Any fish caught could be taken home to be eaten. Most of them were given away, some are sold at 100 baht each.

Fish farmer Somsak Sodcheun said: ‘Covid has affected us terribly. The sea bass price had fallen to the point that we all have suffered catastrophic losses. Many farmers are in debt of hundreds of thousands of baht.

'The price dropped to as low as 65-85 THB a kilogram while the average cost is between 100-110 THB per kilo. Sometimes the fish size is not wanted by the market and there were barely any sales. The pond then became crowded and the fish started dying.'

Samut Prakan Provincial Office of Fisheries Kobsuk Khedmuan said: ‘Organizing the Sea Bass Eating Festival at Klong Niyom Yatra is to be held between 16 – 20 November 2022 at Niyom Yatra School to stimulate and promote agro-tourism.'

The region's Khlong Niyom Yatra district is an important source of sea bass farming.